Russia reduced the celebrations of its navy on Sunday, citing security concerns, as the Kremlin faced ongoing drone assaults from Ukraine.
Russian authorities called off the vessel parades that are typically held to commemorate the annual Navy Day celebrations in St. Petersburg, the Kaliningrad area on the Baltic, and the far-eastern city of Vladivostok.
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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it’s linked to the overall situation, security reasons, which are above all else” when asked why the parade in St. Petersburg was canceled, despite President Vladimir Putin having already arrived in his hometown to tour the navy headquarters.
Over the course of the night, 99 Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defenses, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Officials said more drones were shot down close to St. Petersburg later in the day. According to local authorities, drone fragments in the Lomonosov region harmed a woman.
Due to the drone threat, the Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg suspended dozens of flights early on Sunday.
While in St. Petersburg, Putin stopped by the old Admiralty building to hear updates on four-day naval exercises that concluded on Sunday. 150 vessels from the Baltics to the Pacific participated in the July Storm exercise.
In addition to promising to increase the navy’s training and build more warships, Putin said that the navy’s combat capability and strike power would reach a completely new level.
He also praised the Baltic Fleet’s Admiral Grigorovich frigate’s crew for repelling a Ukrainian drone strike in the area earlier in the day at the Kronstadt naval station, which is located just west of St. Petersburg.
Moscow’s concerns about Ukraine’s nationwide drone assaults are reflected in the scaled-down Navy Day celebrations.
Moscow was forced to transfer its fleet from Russia-occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk after Ukraine sank multiple Russian warships in the Black Sea in a series of strikes earlier in the conflict, which is currently in its fourth year.
Additionally, Ukraine launched a daring June 1 offensive code-named Spiderweb, using drones to strike multiple Russian airbases that house long-range bombers throughout Russia, ranging from Siberia to the Arctic Kola Peninsula. In a humiliating blow to the Kremlin, the drones were launched from trucks that were secretly positioned close to the bases, surprising the Russian military.
At a time when Kyiv’s undermanned and undergunned forces are confronting Russian attacks along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, the raid significantly boosted Kyiv’s morale by destroying or damaging many of the bombers that Moscow had employed to wage aerial attacks on Ukraine.
On Sunday, Russia persisted in attacking Ukraine with missiles and drones.
Three persons were injured in a drone strike that destroyed public infrastructure, an administrative building, and non-residential properties in Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine. According to the regional military administration, a drone strike on another hamlet in the area injured a woman, and two males were killed after being detonated by a landmine in another location.
Following a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron stated on X that he reiterated France’s backing for Kyiv and promised to exert more pressure on Moscow to accept a ceasefire that opens the door for negotiations that will result in a firm and long-lasting peace with full European participation.
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